Page 55 of Strictly Business : A Lesbian Romance

Probably from that first meeting. She obviously sees me as the killer of

dreams.

Taylor was clearly distrustful of Christina. Maybe it wasn’t so much a

matter of like or dislike. Christina could tell that Taylor knew that

something wasn’t right. She accepted the help because she obviously

wanted her business to succeed, but her tone was wary every single time

Christina called, and it wasn’t much better over email either.

Christina could just imagine what Taylor was going to feel when she

confessed that she was looking at the building that Taylor was excited about

because she was managing the project. She’d left that bit out, since she had

the unnerving sensation during their last face to face meeting that Taylor

would have told her to go to hell and everything would be shot. Michelle

would have been irate. The company probably would have tanked. The

branch might have closed. She could have been back in New York by now,

grinding it out, trying to find another job, getting her nose rubbed in her

failure by her family.

Christina realized she was speeding. She eased up with her lead foot and

settled for gripping the wheel tighter to work out her annoyance. The

building wasn’t downtown, but it wasn’t far from the office either. She

didn’t get stuck in traffic and made it ahead of their appointment by fifteen

minutes. That left her time to get out of the car and survey the site.

The building was originally the home of an old nursery. Not a baby

nursery. A plant nursery. It had a large storefront, since the place apparently

used to stock some household inventory— overpriced clothes, candles,

purses— that sort of thing. The building was old, the yellow and green paint

peeling, and the roof was in questionable shape on the north side where the

shingles were curling back.

Someone had put a stone or something through one of the large

glass windows at the front and it was boarded up, but overall, it had

potential. The back lot where the greenhouses used to stand was huge. It

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